A recent story story at Tech Crunch highlights that fax machines are still alive and well.
Many companies still rely on a paper trail and like the safety of paper records. The main reason we've found is that many businesses haven't found an electronic document storage system that is easy to use, doesn't cost a fortune and doesn't add too much overhead to day to day tasks.
The thing about paper is that it's easy to file. Simply buy a cabinet or a pile of binders and store the papers. As long as you have a reasonably organised system - for example, I keep a binder per financial year for bills - papers can be found. The problem is that those binders or cabinets take up space and cost money. Every fax you send or receive potentially adds to that.
Faxes also cost for transmission and receipt. The phone line probably has a monthly rental cost and then there's paper and toner to factor in.
The reality is that even if you have customers and suppliers that use faxes, you don't have to. There are paperless solutions that don't require an actual fax machine but allows you send and receive faxes.
In general, these apps are free to download but require subscription to a service that provides you with an incoming fax number so you can receive faxes and the ability to send faxes via an online service. Incoming faxes are sent to your email.
Are faxes still important for your business? Do you rely on them or have you moved completely to email? Let us know by adding your comment below.
